Burn injuries can result in tremendous pain and suffering for the victim. These injuries are not limited to fires as accidents involving steam, hot water, or chemicals can also cause severe burns.
Burn injuries may cause disfigurement and inhibit the way a person functions. A person who suffers a burn injury may also deal with mental and emotional issues stemming from the accident. People who have sustained burn injuries in accidents caused by another party’s negligence could be entitled to significant compensation.
Did you or a loved one suffer serious burns in an accident caused by another person’s negligence in Jefferson County? If so, contact a Beaumont burn injury attorney right away for help holding the responsible party accountable and recovering the maximum compensation you deserve.
Portner Bond, PLLC has experience with a variety of catastrophic injury claims, including burn injuries. Our firm can examine your case as soon as you call (409) 838-4444 or contact us online to set up a free consultation.
Do I Need A Burn Injury Lawyer?
While you may quickly discover just how serious your burn injuries are, don’t expect an insurance company to take them seriously. An attorney is going to be your best bet to recover fair and full compensation. In most cases, an insurance company is simply going to try to avoid liability. They will usually try to accomplish this by claiming that a victim was to blame for their accident and injuries.
One sneaky way insurance companies build their cases against victims is through recorded statements where they ask the victims questions specifically designed to make it sound as though they were negligent. If you’ve suffered a burn injury, you should refuse to speak to any insurer until you hire a lawyer. An experienced Beaumont burn injury attorney can help you avoid these tricky insurer tactics.
Many times, insurance companies will quickly offer victims lump-sum settlements to resolve their cases. However, these offers are frequently far less than what people are entitled to and end up failing to provide for the necessary long-term medical care. Portner Bond, PLLC will make sure that the settlement you agree to will provide for everything you need due to your burn injuries.
Why Choose Portner Bond, PLLC To Handle My Case?
Chris Portner has been recognized in Texas Monthly in 2007 and 2008 as a rising star by Texas Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters service). He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, where membership is limited to less than 1% of attorneys in the United States.
Trent Bond is one of only about 10% of lawyers in Texas to be Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Texas Super Lawyers has recognized him as a Texas Super Lawyer in Texas Monthly every year since 2011.
Portner Bond, PLLC will negotiate a full and fair settlement that covers all the expenses you have because of your burn injuries. When an insurance company refuses to provide appropriate compensation, we will file a lawsuit to try your case in court.
It’s important to note that our firm handles burn injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that you do not pay us anything unless you get a financial award.
Types of Burn Injury Cases We Handle
Burn injuries involve damage to the skin, the human body’s largest organ. However, there are many kinds of burn injuries. The most common are thermal burns, which involve contact with fire, hot objects, hot liquid, or steam.
Other serious burn injuries include electrical burns caused by contact with electrical currents and radiation burns that result from exposure to ionizing radiation, thermal radiation, or ultraviolet light (UV rays). Chemical burns involve contact with acidic substances and are sometimes referred to as alkali burns. Friction burns caused by rubbing skin against rough surfaces are common but rarely serious.
Severe burn injuries will usually be classified into one of three degrees:
- First-Degree Burns — Superficial burn of the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin. First-degree burn injuries often heal in a matter of days, with sunburn being a frequent example.
- Second-Degree Burns — Damage to both the epidermis and the dermis, the layer beneath the epidermis. Such burns can result in blistering.
- Third-Degree Burns — Damage to both layers of skin extending into underlying tissues and sweat glands. Third-degree burns require skin grafting and may even require surgery.
There are three additional degrees of burns, but they are less common. Fourth-degree burns extend into the fat, fifth-degree burns extend into the muscle, and sixth-degree burns extend into the bone.
Any number of accidents could involve fire or other circumstances that cause burn injuries. Some of the most common causes of burn injuries include, but are not limited to:
- Car Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Workplace Accidents
- Industrial Accidents
- Construction Accidents
- Refinery Accidents
- Oil & Gas Accidents
- Third-Party Negligence
- Toxic Chemical Exposure
- Medical Malpractice
- Amusement Park Accidents
- Day Care Accidents & Negligent Supervision
- Product Liability
In addition to causing severe physical pain and suffering, burn injuries also cause profound emotional consequences for people who have had their bodies dramatically transformed. Insurance companies are notorious for underpaying these types of claims, and Portner Bond, PLLC will fight to make sure that you recover everything you are truly entitled to.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Burn Injuries
The following section provides answers to some questions you may have about burn injuries, including what to do immediately after suffering an injury, how a burn size is calculated, and the function of a skin graft. These answers will provide a basic introduction to burn injury cases. However, you will likely have more questions, in which case you should contact an experienced Beaumont burn injury attorney at Portner Bond, PLLC. Schedule a free consultation today so we can discuss your case in greater detail.
What should you do when you suffer burn injuries?
Make sure you get medical attention as soon as possible after a burn injury. Never wait for symptoms to develop or worsen. If you were involved in an accident that caused your burn injury, take as many pictures as you can of everything involved at the scene of the accident. When other people saw the accident, ask them for contact information in case these people are needed as witnesses. Try to avoid discussing your accident with anybody, especially an insurance company, until you have legal representation.
How is burn size calculated?
Doctors frequently use a tool called the Wallace Rule of Nines, commonly known simply as the Rule of Nines, to calculate total body surface area (BSA) affected by a burn. The Rule of Nines assigns percentage values to areas of the body for adults and children, and doctors determine how much of a person’s body was affected by burns by adding up all of the corresponding values. The name Rule of Nines is derived from most of the body parts having 9% BSA damage, with the only exceptions being either a leg or the entire back (18% each) as well the groin (1%).
What is a skin graft?
Skin grafts are skin transplants, and they have specific names based on the source of donor skin. Donor skin taken from a different site on the same victim’s body is known as an autologous or autograph. A graft between a donor and victim who are genetically identical is a syngraft, isogeneic, or isograft. Donors and victims of the same species are allogeneic or allografts, while donors and victims of different species are heterografts, xenogeneic, or xenografts. Lost tissue replaced with synthetic materials is a prosthetic graft.
Burn Injury Statistics
The American Burn Association (ABA) reported that 486,00 burn injuries in the United States required medical treatment in 2016. According to the ABA, there were 40,000 hospitalizations related to burn injuries, 30,000 of which were at hospital burn centers.
The ABA reported that over 60% of acute hospitalizations in the U.S. related to burn injury were admitted to 128 burn centers, and such burn centers now average more than 200 annual admissions. By contrast, 4,500 other acute care hospitals in the nation average less than three burn admissions per year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that a person died in a fire every two hours and somebody was injured by fire every 23 minutes in the U.S. in 2000. Up to 10,000 people die every year of burn-related infections, according to the CDC.
A 2010 report from the National Fire Protection Association found that children under five years of age are one and a half times at higher risk to die in a home fire compared to the general public, and they are eight times as likely to die in a fire caused by playing with a heat source than any other age group.
The Texas State Child Fatality Review Team Committee (SCFRT) reported that fire and burn injuries were the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death for both children ages 1 to 4 and children ages 5 to 9 over a five-year period (2006-2010).
Contact a Beaumont Burn Injury Attorney Today
If you or your loved one sustained burn injuries in an accident caused by another party’s negligence in the greater Beaumont area, you deserve justice and an experienced Beaumont personal injury lawyer will help you get it.
Portner Bond, PLLC is committed to helping burn injury victims in Texas recover all of the compensation they need and deserve. Call (409) 838-4444 or contact us online to take advantage of a free consultation.